Niff's First Christmas
by 739678
Summary: A one-shot for the Unicorns and Angels verse. Nick and Jeff find themselves at the Hummel's for their first Christmas as a couple. Can they bring the joy of Christmas to a home full of sorrow for their losses that year?


**Niff's First Christmas**

They hadn't planned on spending Christmas in Ohio. It was their first as a couple and it had seemed that they would be spending it alone in their new loft in Bushwick. Nick's grandparents had booked a cruise months earlier as a celebration of their Golden Wedding; they had offered to cancel it, but Nick had told them not to. His parents had disowned him to all intents and purposes, so there would be no welcome there. As for Jeff's parents, their reaction to their engagement just after Thanksgiving had not been so much frosty as glacial. So there was no way that Jeff would be spending their first Christmas together under their roof. They could have headed back to Chicago, to either of their relatives there, but it seemed silly when they had only left there two weeks earlier. So, they would be staying at home. Just the two of them, as their unexpected but not unwelcome roommate, Sebastian, was obliged to spend the holidays with his father and his new girlfriend. Their immediate neighbours would also be absent - the girls heading back to Ohio, and Sam to Kentucky. But it was ok - after all they had each other, and that was all they needed.

Same didn't think so. After the year that they had all had, they needed family or friends around. Nick and Jeff had been through more than most. It was overhearing their discussion over whether to buy TV dinners or get take out for Christmas lunch, as their cooking skills were not that great, that swung it for Sam, and made him intervene. He called Burt. He knew that he and Carole would already have Cooper and Rory; he also knew that they had a soft spot for the two boys, and that they would be as horrified as him at the prospect of the two of them sitting alone in New York, eating take out. For his own part, Sam was also pretty sure that Nick and Jeff would bring their infectious joy to a home that might otherwise be quite sad this year. Rory would appreciate the support too, on his first Christmas since he left Ireland, and his family, for good.

Burt had called Nick the moment that Sam hung up. Threatened to come to New York himself and spend Christmas with them instead. So they had no choice but to join the exodus from the city, ending up on the same flight as Artie on Christmas Eve. It was Cooper that met them at the airport at Columbus - after a hug for Artie, he took the two boys into his arms and whispered "Thank you for coming. I'm not promising you much of a Christmas - none of us are in the mood to be honest. But there will be a proper lunch, and that has to better than eating take out pizza. And presents. And no doubt a visit from angels…" His eyes took on a far away look as he said that; then he was all bustle, hurrying them out to the car, and through the grey afternoon to Lima.

They saw exactly what Cooper meant when they got to the Hummels. They could both remember how it had looked when they had come here two years ago to visit Kurt and Blaine. The house had been bright with lights, a well decorated Christmas tree taking pride of place in the lounge. None of that existed this year - there was a tree, but it was nearly bare. The house had smelt of gingerbread and cookies - it didn't this time. Carole was waiting for them, told them at once she was Carole, not Mrs Hummel. Rory was at Trent's, being formally introduced to his folks; Burt was at the garage. Cooper took them up to the spare room, where the one queen sized bed waited for them. "Burt wouldn't dream of making you sleep in separate beds these days," said Cooper. Then he left them alone.

"This is so sad, Nicky. I'm sure that Finn and Kurt wouldn't want it to be like this. Maybe we are meant to be here to cheer them all up," said Jeff. Nick nodded, but where to begin?

After quickly unpacking, they both knew exactly where to begin. Cookies. They had watched Kurt more than once whip up a batch of cookies; and one afternoon, after his tutelage, they had nearly wrecked the Sterlings kitchen baking some themselves. It was one of the very few things that they could cook to a degree of success.

"You need to remember to add a little ginger to the basic chocolate chip recipe, and some cinnamon to the raisin ones for them to be Christmassy." They turned round to see Kurt standing there - he looked a little bit sad, and they could understand why. "Once you've done that, if you haven't burnt the kitchen down, I'll help you make the gingerbread. The house doesn't smell right without it. The other smell that is missing is cloves. The best way to get that smell is to get Christmas scented candles. Send Cooper out for them. I will get Blaine to keep half an eye on him to make sure he gets the right ones." With that, Kurt vanished once again.

When the boys went downstairs, Jeff went to give Cooper his instructions from Kurt - the latter laughed out loud, grabbed his coat and car keys, and set off. Meanwhile, Nick had made his way to the kitchen and was gathering the ingredients for a batch of choc chip ginger cookies, as a bemused Carole watched. She was initially concerned, but was informed that they had been taught by an expert two years ago. She could only watch, in mild amusement, as Jeff appeared and the ingredients were carefully measured out - ok, so maybe they added a few extra chocolate chips. Nick then walked over to the right drawer for the cookie cutters, as Jeff rolled out the dough, the tip of his tongue poking out as he concentrated on getting the dough an even and correct thickness as he rolled it out. The Christmas tree cutter was then put to good use, and before long, three full trays of cookies were being placed in the oven, and the timer set. This done, they started on the raisin ones.

Burt arrived home at the same time as Cooper came back. They opened the door to the smell of baking. Entering the kitchen, Burt saw Carole sitting to one side as Jeff took a tray of star shaped cinnamon raisin cookies out of the oven - meantime, Nick, his hair dotted with specks of flour, stirred a bowl energetically. "Gingerbread," said Carole in a one word answer to his unspoken question. "Two different kinds of cookies. I think that they have an angel watching over them to make sure they are doing it right. And they haven't wrecked the kitchen yet, which is a bonus."

Suddenly, both she and Burt got a whiff of cloves; and Cooper came in with a lit candle. "I had my instructions from above, via these two. It certainly smells good in here, like Christmas." He went to grab a cookie - Jeff directed him to the ones on the rack that had cooled. He was followed by Burt - as they bit into them, Nick stopped his stirring, to join Jeff in staring in anticipation at them.

"I think that Kurt would approve," said Burt.

"And Blaine would be demolishing them along with Finn," said Cooper sadly.

Nick nodded, and went back to his stirring, as Jeff began to line the cake tins. As she watched, Carole said nothing. She had thought that it would be wrong to have the usual level of celebration of Christmas this year. But now, it seemed almost wrong to have given up on the usual festivities. She was positive that her three boys would not have approved. Maybe they did all need a little Christmas - and there was a tree that needed to be decorated a little more. Maybe the boys would help her, once they had cleaned the kitchen up…

Later that night, Trent brought Rory back. Whilst they had been away, the house had been transformed. It shone with lights as they pulled into the driveway. Rory looked curious; Trent just smiled, and said "I think this is the Niff effect." When they opened the door, they could smell Christmas. It was obvious that someone had been baking, the smell of ginger and cinnamon filling the air. Trent was invited to stay for hot chocolate by Carole, and he accepted. He was staring at the Christmas tree, now a sea of lights and shining decorations. Nick was fixing the last bit of garland above the pictures, Jeff holding the ladder, and to Trent's amusement, clearly enjoying his view of Nick's ass. What had happened was nothing short of a miracle. They had even managed persuade Cooper to put on a jumper with snowmen on it. The garland finished, Nick and Jeff rushed over to greet Trent and Rory. They caught up over hot chocolate and gingerbread - Trent was quietly shocked at just how good the latter was. Kurt was obviously on the ball with his cookery lessons.

Just after midnight, the whole household asleep, three angels came to stand in the lounge. "They did a good job in here - it looks fantastic," said Blaine.

"Those cookies smell great - I wish I could get some!" said Finn.

"I'll bake you some," said Kurt. "It has made the house smell right - that and the candles. It just wasn't right before; I know why they didn't want to bother with this, but they need a little Christmas…"

"Right this very minute," sang Blaine. Kurt laughed, Finn just looked confused. As Blaine explained to Finn all about _Mame_, Kurt walked towards the tree, and carefully moved his mother's perfume bottle to the right spot on the tree - now it was perfect.

* * *

><p>Jeff woke up at about 5am on Christmas morning. He was confused as to where he was at first, then reassured by the presence of Nick next to him. He was thirsty, so he decided to make his way down to the kitchen to get himself a drink. As he walked past the door to the lounge, he noticed that it was slightly open, and the lights on the tree were on. He knew that Burt had switched them off as he went to bed. That was when he heard the quiet sob - looking in, he saw Carole sitting on the sofa, a photo of Finn with Kurt and Blaine in her hands. The next thing he knew, he was sat next to her, his arms around her, as she quietly wept onto his shoulder. They sat like that for half an hour. Jeff's thirst was forgotten - his only focus on comforting Carole in the small way that he could. Eventually, she pulled away, wiped her eyes, then leant forward and kissed him on the forehead.<p>

"Thank you," she said quietly, "I hope that I didn't wake you up…"

Jeff shook his head. "I was thirsty…"

"Well, I will go and make us some tea - and not a word about this to anyone else…" Jeff nodded, and decided to go and wake Nick - he could do with a hug himself.

Carole just smiled and got an extra cup when a half asleep Nick was part dragged, part walked into the kitchen. He mumbled something, which might have been "Merry Christmas," then leant his head on Jeff's shoulder. It took a few minutes, but once he had some tea - and a cookie - he was much more awake. He had the feeling that something had happened between Jeff and Carole, but he didn't ask. It was obviously a secret. He also knew that they were in for another busy day. Carole would need help with dinner, and maybe if he paid attention, he could learn how to do things, so that he could prepare something similar for himself and Jeff next year. It was a daunting notion, but he wanted to be able to cook properly. So anything that he could learn was good - and who better to learn from than Carole?

As Nick broached the subject of helping her, purely so he could learn, Jeff returned upstairs to dress and to wake up Rory. He knew that very soon Carole would want to dress too, then wake up Burt and start to make breakfast. Jeff had already made alternative plans with Nick, and a third person would be a help. He managed to sneak Rory down the stairs; continue to distract Carole as Nick ran upstairs to dress, and then put his plan into action when Carole went upstairs. By the time she came back down, with Burt following her, the coffee was on; eggs had been scrambled, toast was made and the turkey bacon was sizzling on the grill. The three boys refused to allow Carole to do anything, other than sit down alongside Burt and eat. The smell of coffee and bacon was enough to rouse Cooper - he was more than happy to be pushed into a seat and eat the plate of food put in front of him. As he did, Nick was making pancakes - as soon as he made one, it was being consumed by either Jeff or Rory. In the end, Carole defied their protests and took over from Nick, to ensure that the poor boy got something to eat himself.

Thus began Christmas day at the Hummel's. It carried on in a similar vein - as was the norm, Burt ended up in front of the TV, with Cooper and Rory for company - and Nick and Jeff assisted Carole in the kitchen. She had felt guilty at first about the fact that she was allowing two guests to do all the work, but they seemed happy to do so. She had feared one disaster after another, but once they had been shown how to do something, they quickly became quite proficient at it. In the back of her mind, she was aware that she was doing a good thing. 'They do live on their own,' she thought, 'and if they can't cook properly, then they are going to end up in trouble.' She decided there and then that she would ask them to help her again tomorrow, just to give them some more tuition. It might also be an idea to bake some bread…

Dinner was on time, and was one of the best yet. There was much praise for Carole, but she shifted all of the praise to her two sous chefs. Then it was time for the exchange of gifts. The presents may have been small, but they were meaningful, for the most part. Cooper had heard from Sam about Nick and Jeff's first night in the loft, when they had set fire to the curtains in the process of burning their meal. so he had bought them vouchers for a cookery course - at first they pretended to be affronted, but then were all hugs and smiles. Nick and Jeff, invited at the last minute, had not had much time to buy gifts, but with a little angelic intervention, had managed to get everyone something that they would like. Rory in particular was pleased with a parcel full of imported Irish food, from a little shop that Blaine had found for them. Then it was time for two final gifts to be exchanged - Nick's for Jeff and vice versa.

Jeff went first, handing Nick a small box. He opened it to reveal a watch. "It's one of the perpetual ones that is powered by the movement of your body, but you can wind it as well. It should last a lifetime…." said Jeff. Nick turned it over to see that he had also had it engraved with the words _Niff forever - yours for eternity, Jeff_. Nick smiled broadly and pulled Jeff into a hug. He had stopped using his old watch that summer - it had been a gift from his father, the man who had disowned him so publicly that summer. So Nick had disowned the watch, sending it back in the mail. Jeff knew that he missed it, so his gift was perfect.

Nick in his turn handed Jeff an even smaller box. It contained an eternity ring, on the inside of which Nick had had engraved the pattern of his thumbprint, and a simple message - _I love you forever, Nick xx_. It took Jeff a moment to realise what the markings on the ring actually were, but once he did, he began to cry, and Nick just pulled him into his arms and held him there. Around them, everyone was smiling. It reminded them all of the love between the two boys they had lost only three months before. It made them happy that there was still such affection left in the world.

After that, Nick decided that they could use some more cookies, and he and Jeff returned to the kitchen. Carole was more than happy to leave them to it. She was watching an old film on the television. Rory eventually got up and went to join them. He could recall the recipe for his grandmother's shortbread, and he was keen to try and make some - with Nick and Jeff's help, it shouldn't be too hard. So it was that a pile of shortbread joined two more batches of cookies. The boys had just finished, and were in the process of cleaning up the kitchen, when there was a knock on the front door. Cooper went to answer it, to find Sebastian on the threshold, clutching a box of chocolates.

"I thought that I would just pop over to wish everyone a Merry Christmas…" he began.

"Your father driving you mad?" said Cooper. Sebastian nodded and he invited him in - and was shocked to see Wes standing behind him. "Any more Warblers lurking around?" said Cooper with a smile.

"Apart from the two already here, no," said Wes, following Sebastian into the house. "I think everyone else's parents don't drive them quite so mad."

In the next hour, it proved to be a good thing that more cookies had been made. The arrival of the two Warblers was just the start. Rachel arrived to visit Carole; Santana and Brittany appeared, just to say hello; and Trent appeared, despatched to Lima by his mother, who had noticed he was sitting miserable and pining in the corner without the company of Rory. Carole and Burt were happy to have a house full of young people. Rory and Trent were curled up together in a corner, eating Kimberley biscuits; Carole noticed that Brittany and Santana were in a similar position in another. The conversation ebbed and flowed, everyone trying to avoid the mention of three names. It was in one of the lulls in conversation that they heard the voices from the kitchen - the sound of Nick and Jeff singing _Jingle Bell Rock. _Two voices merging together in song - almost, but not quite, a Christmas duet. A young couple happy on their first Christmas together. It tugged on everybody's heartstrings as they recalled a tradition for another young couple, no longer physically with them.

"Not quite as good as us, are they Blaine?" said a voice. They all turned towards the door where three figures had just appeared. There were smiles all round at the sight of them. "Sorry we are so late in getting here, but we've been a bit busy. Finn and Blaine needed cookies made; we had our Christmas lunch; and since then, we've had one or two visits to make," finished Kurt.

Finn huffed, "Just a few dozen visits to make, he means…"

"Everyone says to say Merry Christmas. We are just glad that so many of you are here together, because it means we can have a bit of a rest," said Blaine.

And for the next hour or so, it was almost as if none of the traumas of the previous year had taken place. Kurt and Blaine were persuaded - it didn't take much doing - to sing a Christmas duet - they sang _Little Drummer Boy _in the style of Crosby and Bowie. Finn and Rachel followed, and sang _Fairytale of New York_, much to everyone's surprise. Kurt and Blaine danced about in the background (both pulling a horrified face as Rachel sang the line 'you cheap lousy faggot'). The other couples all declined the offer to sing, as they didn't think they could follow that.

The party only broke up when Brittany pointed out that her dolphins and Finn had fallen asleep on the sofa. Finn sat in the middle, the other two leaning on him. It was getting late anyway, and so goodbyes were said, along with reminders of the commitment of the younger people to meet up in New York on New Year's Eve. Carole forced a sleepy Nick and Jeff to bed, despite their insistence that they should help her clear up - she felt that they had done more than enough for one day. She was left to stand with Burt and Cooper, and stare at the three angels fast asleep on the sofa. She had to fight the urge to go and get a blanket to drape over them, knowing that it would sink right down to the seat. "You know I was dreading today," she said to the other two. "I thought it would be one long reminder of all that we have lost. But somehow, having those two boys here, spreading their infectious joy and just being so much help… The three of them appearing as well was just the icing on the cake. It has been ok today - hard, but ok." Burt and Cooper could only nod in agreement, as they switched off the lights and headed to bed.

In the bed in the spare room, Nick and Jeff were still awake as they heard three pairs of feet mount the stairs. "It has been a good Christmas, Nicky. The best ever. I had you and I was so looking forward to that. But to be with other people; to see so many of our friends, and to manage to make them all smile - well that made our Christmas all the more special."

"Our first Christmas as a couple - the first of many, many more. Now that I've got you, Jeff, I'm not going anywhere else," and with that he placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you so much, Nicky…"

"Ditto…" said a sleepy Nick, as he nuzzled his head into Jeff's shoulder, and wrapped a protective arm around him. And that was how they fell asleep - content in each other and surrounded by love.


End file.
